The U.S. on Friday imposed sanctions on Colombian President Gustavo Petro, as President Donald Trump sharply escalated a feud with Washington's longtime Latin American ally over accusations that Petro has refused to stop the flow of cocaine into the United States, APA reports citing Reuters.
Trump this week called Petro an "illegal drug leader" after the leftist president accused the U.S. of committing "murder" and said the U.S. had fired at a boat off Venezuela that belonged to a "humble family," not a rebel group.
"Since President Gustavo Petro came to power, cocaine production in Colombia has exploded to the highest rate in decades, flooding the United States and poisoning Americans," U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement.
"President Petro has allowed drug cartels to flourish and refused to stop this activity. Today, President Trump is taking strong action to protect our nation and make clear that we will not tolerate the trafficking of drugs into our nation."
In a post on X, Petro said: "Fighting drug trafficking for decades, and effectively, has brought me this measure from the government of the very society for whom we helped so much to stop their cocaine consumption.
"A complete paradox — but not one step back, and never on our knees."
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